Music Director Alan Gilbert Makes First Philadelphia Appearance Leading New York Philharmonic and Joyce DiDonato, Feb. 24
JANUARY 31, 2012
Program Includes Steven Stucky’s Son et lumière, Berlioz’s Les nuits d'été with Mezzo-Soprano Joyce DiDonato and Mussorgsky/Ravel’s Pictures at an Exhibition
Alan Gilbert, The Yoko Nagae Ceschina Chair, makes his first Philadelphia appearance leading the New York Philharmonic, one of the most revered and oldest ensembles in the United States, through an orchestral performance of works by composers Stucky, Berlioz and Mussorgsky/Ravel in Verizon Hall on Friday, February 24 at 8 p.m. The performance also includes the enchanting vocals of mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato in Berlioz’s song cycle Les nuits d'été.
The evening’s program takes on a global flavor with three works from American, French, and Russian composers including: Steven Stucky’s Son et lumière, a nine-minute work from 1988; Hector Berlioz’s romantic masterpiece Les nuits d'été, based on texts by the poet Théophile Gautier; and, concludes with Ravel’s orchestration of Modest Mussorgsky’s most famous piano composition, Pictures at an Exhibition.
The concert will also be performed in New York at Avery Fisher Hall February 23, 25, and 28, 2012. This program will be released May 15, 2012, as part of Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic 2011-12 Season recording series.
In discussing the program, Mr. Gilbert noted that “Steven Stucky is a very important American composer. Son et lumière is one of his early works that I particularly love," he said. “As the title would indicate, it’s about contrasts—sound and color. And there is a definite connection between this work and the kind of French impressionistic color of Berlioz’s Les nuits d'été.” He also noted that “It’s easy to forget that Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition was originally written for piano because the Ravel version we know is so iconic and compelling. Ravel extracted the essence of the piece and turned it into a kaleidoscopic, wonderful, absolutely convincing orchestral work.” Mr. Gilbert described mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato as an “ebullient, effervescent stage personality” who has “natural charisma as well as a gorgeous voice.”
Tickets for New York Philharmonic are available at $39 to $113, and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at kimmelcenter.org, or at the Kimmel Center Box Office located on Broad and Spruce streets, Philadelphia, Pa. (open daily from 10am to 6pm, later on performance evenings).
New York Philharmonic Music Director Alan Gilbert, The Yoko Nagae Ceschina Chair, began his tenure in September 2009, creating what New York magazine called “a fresh future for the Philharmonic.” The first native New Yorker to hold the post, he has sought to make the Orchestra a point of civic pride for both the city and the country.
Since his arrival in 2009, Gilbert has forged artistic partnerships, introducing the positions of The Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence and The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence, an annual three-week festival, and CONTACT!, the new-music series. In 2011-12 he conducts world premieres, Mahler symphonies, a residency at London’s Barbican Centre, tours to Europe and California, and a season-concluding musical exploration of space at the Park Avenue Armory featuring Stockhausen’s theatrical immersion, Gruppen. He also made his Philharmonic soloist debut performing J.S. Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins alongside Frank Peter Zimmermann in October 2011. Last season’s highlights included two tours of European musical capitals, Carnegie hall’s 120th Anniversary Concert, and Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen, hailed by The Washington Post as “another victory,” building on 2010’s wildly successful staging of Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre, which The New York Times called “an instant Philharmonic milestone.”
In September 2011 Alan Gilbert became director of conducting and orchestral studies at The Juilliard School, where he is the first to hold the William Schuman Chair in Musical Studies. Conductor laureate of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and principal guest conductor of Hamburg’s NDR Symphony Orchestra, he regularly conducts the world’s leading orchestras, such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic and Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Gilbert studied at Harvard University, The Curtis Institute of Music (from which he received an Honorary Doctor of Music degree, May 2010), and Juilliard. In December 2011 he received Columbia University’s Ditson Conductor’s Award for his “exceptional commitment to the performance of works by American composers and to contemporary music.”
The progression of Joyce DiDonato’s operatic career has been called “one of the happiest opera events of the past decade” by Opera News. She recently sang the role of Sycorax in the Metropolitan Opera’s production of The Enchanted Island to rave reviews, and the New York Times named her March 6 debut recital at Carnegie Hall to their “Best of 2011” list. A native of Kansas, DiDonato completed her graduate studies at Philadelphia’s Academy of Vocal Arts before touring the world and gaining an enthusiastic global following in opera, concert and recital. She has appeared on opera stages in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Chicago, Geneva, London, Milan, Munich, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo, Vienna and Berlin; and performed with such prestigious ensembles as the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Orchestre National de Paris, St. Luke's Chamber Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra. Her impressive list of honors includes the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Singer of the Year, the Richard Tucker Award, and a prize from the ARIA Award Foundation, as well as honors for her extensive discography. It was recently announced that DiDonato will sing the title role in the newly commissioned work, Great Scott, at the Dallas Opera to open their 2015-16 season.
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Kimmel Center, Inc., a charitable, not-for-profit organization, owns, manages, supports and maintains The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, which includes Verizon Hall, Perelman Theater, Innovation Studio and the Merck Arts Education Center. Kimmel Center, Inc. also manages the Academy of Music, owned by the Philadelphia Orchestra Association, and the University of the Arts Merriam Theater. Kimmel Center, Inc.’s mission is to operate a world class performing arts center that engages and serves a broad audience which includes providing arts in education, community outreach and a rich diversity of programming. The 2011/2012 season is sponsored by Citi. For additional information, visit kimmelcenter.org.
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